Leaving Again
by summerrrain
Summary: Kitty and John's friendship has grown ever since he came back as a student to Xavier's school after Alcatrez. But is it more than a friendship?
1. Chapter 1

It had been more than a year since Alcatrez- that day when so much happened, and nothing was the same as it used to be. Professor Xavier, amazingly enough, had returned, the full details of how he came back only known by the professors. The Professor wasn't the only one who had returned; John Allerdyce had also come back to Xavier's School as a student. I, Kitty Pryde, newly graduated from basic high school learning, thought about these changes as I sat on a bench in the cool, crisp, autumn weather. I brushed a leaf off of my black cargo pants and began to think.

Storm and Logan had been very surprised when they saw John at the door a year ago, but they forgave him. I forgave him. We had grown close, John and I, and I knew there was much more than just friendship between us. We had true friendship, and I could easily say that he was my best friend. But over the past few months, I could feel that he liked me as more than a friend, and I liked him back. I felt so strongly about him that I wasn't even sure if it was really lust or love. I smiled as I remembered how we had almost kissed a day before, but Logan interrupted our moment.

I looked up and gave a greeting to Bobby and Rogue, who walked by holding hands. Bobby and John had become somewhat friends, neither forgetting that they had once been on opposite sides. A voice interrupted my thinking and I looked up and saw Jubilee running over to me.

"Kitty! Did you hear? John's leaving!" she said, breathless. I sat there, trying to process what she had just said. I looked up at her.

"What?" I whispered.

"He's packing and everything. He said that-" she began to say, but I cut her off.

"I have to go." I said quickly and took off running towards the mansion. I ignored the questions and greetings thrown towards me as I tore through the courtyard. I phased through the mansion door, one mission in my mind. I was running towards the stairs when a pair of strong arms gripped me from behind.

"What!" I shouted, turning around to see a surprised and amused Logan.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, kid?" he asked me, ignoring my outburst.

"I have to go, Mr. Logan, okay?" I said frantically, and phased through his grip and turned away, and started to run up the stairs. I ignored his muttering, which sounded like "young people." I ran quickly down the hallway and phased into John's room. There he was, packing his things so simply it was like he was folding his laundry. Every time I saw him, his incredibly good looks made me breathless, but I paid no attention to that feeling.

"Why?" I asked, holding back tears.

"I need a new change of scene, New York City maybe." He said, not looking up.

"Did you even stop to think that I would miss you? That anyone would miss you?" I said, trying to get through to him.

"I'm not used to people caring about me, Kitten." He said, laughing.

"I care about you. More than you know." I said angrily, feeling the tension as I walked over to him.

"You know I care Kitty. That's why I'm leaving. I'm saving you the hurt." He paused, "Don't make this hard." He said, zipping his suitcase.

"You're the one who's making this hard, John, not me" I almost shouted, grabbing the top of his shirt. He looked at me sadly for a moment, and then gently put my hand at my sides.

"John, don't. Please." I said, half of it coming out in a sob. He grabbed his suitcase and walked by me and out the door. I ran after him, stopping for a moment, watching him walk away.

"John Allerdyce! You get back here!" I shouted, ignoring the looks of students walking by. When he didn't answer, I ran up to him so I was in stride with him.

"John, stop. You haven't given me a chance, I haven't gotten to talk to you enough. Stay for me, John, please." I pleaded to him, almost breaking down. We walked down the stairs, me thinking of what to shout at him next. He got to the door and put his suitcases down.

"So I guess this is goodbye for now." He said, avoiding my eye contact.

"No, actually, it's not. Why-" I said frantically. I knew Storm, Logan, and the Professor were all looking at our fight from the kitchen, and Bobby and Rogue looked up from where they were watching television in the room next to us. The fact that John was leaving, maybe for good, hit me and I put my hand to my head and began to cry. I shifted my vision to John and saw that his face had crumpled at the sight of me crying. I heard the squeak of chairs in the TV room and the kitchen and knew that Logan and Bobby had tried to get up to give John a piece of their mind, but Rogue, Storm, or the Professor made them sit back down. I continued to cry when I felt a pair of warm arms around me. I hugged John back, not wanting to believe he was really leaving. Memories of us being together flashed through my head: spending almost every minute of our free time together, our long talks in the kitchen at night, sneaking out at night, telling him every detail of my life to him. And then I realized it. I realized it when I should have noticed it ever since the first day I knew the real John Allerdyce.

"I love you." I whispered, my words mingled with my sobs. I felt him stiffen, as if he wasn't ever loved before.

"I love you too." He breathed quietly into in my ear and I sobbed harder. He held me for a moment, and then pulled back. I stopped crying when I made his contact with those eyes that expressed so much by just looking at me. He moved his face closer to mine and stopped before his lips met mine.

"Come with me." He whispered. I nodded, knowing I could trust him to take care of me wherever we went. His eyes smiled, knowing that I would come. I closed my eyes as his lips met mine. I forgot about everything as we kissed, me holding onto this changed man that I had learned to trust.


	2. Chapter 2

I ran silently down the dark hall of the mansion with my suitcase a few days after I told John that I would go with him. I had only told Logan, Storm, Rogue, Bobby, and the Professor that I was leaving with John. I told them that I would come back. I think they knew I would eventually. John and I had planned to go at night, by bus to New York City. The Professor knew someone with an apartment that we could borrow for a month until we found our own. I phased through the wall into the foyer, and I could feel tears welling in my eyes. I was leaving the place that I had lived in for so long. _I'm only 17!_ I thought, wondering how many other 17 year olds did what I was doing now. I heard footsteps on the stairs and I looked up. It was Jubilee. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at my suitcase to me.

"Kitty. Are you leaving?" she whispered, staring at me.

"Yeah. Not forever though. I didn't want anyone else to know, so we're leaving at night." I said quickly, knowing I couldn't hide the truth from the pretty firecraker.

"We?" she asked, smiling softly.

"Pyro and I." I said, quietly laughing at her astounded expression.

"Kitty Pryde is running away with John Allerdyce? Who would've thought that?" She said, walking down the rest of the stairs to hug me.

"The adults know. So I'm not really running away." I said as we embraced, "What are you doing here anyways?" I asked, noting the fact that it was after midnight.

"I was thirsty. And I was bored." She said, and I laughed quietly as we broke apart.

"I'll miss you. A lot." I said, trying hard not to cry.

"Oh Kit, I'll miss you too. Call me. Write to me. Anything works." She said smiling, and it looked like she was secretly trying to hold back tears too.

"I'll do that Jubes. Don't worry." I said, and hugged my friend again. We smiled at each other and then I heard another set of footsteps and saw it was Rogue and Bobby.

"Aw Kitty." Rogue said, and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back, tears slowly dropping out of my eyes. I turned to Bobby and he smiled. I hugged him, remembering that time when we ice-skated, how he made me feel like I was cared about. I was happy that he was with Rogue now, and I knew that they were a good couple. I turned away from him, letting go his hand that I was clutching. I looked up the staircase and saw that John was coming downstairs with a very confused and somewhat pissed off expression on his face.

"What the fuck?" he muttered, trying to drag his suitcase down the stairs. He became frustrated with it, so he just kicked it and it landed in front of us. I hid a smile seeing his angry expression on his face. He turned to look at me and his face brightened enough to be noticeable.

"Did you invite these people or something Kit?" he teased.

"Actually no, they came on their own." I replied, smiling at him. A light turned on and I saw Logan, Peter, and Storm coming down the stairs.

"What is this?" I heard John mutter under his breath. I ran forward and embraced Storm, trying not to let my emotions show.

"I'll miss you." I whispered, my voice wavering. She hugged me back, and for a second I thought I saw a tear in her eye.

"I'll miss you too, Kitty." She said, holding me for a moment and then letting me go. I turned to Logan and he smiled and opened his arms.

"You're a great kid." He said, stroking my hair as hugged him and let some of my tears out. I looked up at him and smiled through my tears towards Peter. He smiled at me and I embraced him and he put his arms around me.

"Katya, you know I'll be here if you need me." He said, as me broke apart, and I looked at him and everyone else I was leaving behind, wanting to place my feelings into words, but I couldn't.

"It's alright kid, you'll be able to come back and visit." Logan said, smiling affectionately at me. I nodded and went to go grab my suitcase.

"Hell with it." I heard John muttered and looked behind me in time to see him and Bobby embrace briefly. He nodded to everyone else, maybe to embarrassed to hug them, and he looked over to me.

"You sure you don't want a ride?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. We're good. It's not too far away." John said quietly.

"I hope you two have a great trip." I heard before I saw the person behind the voice. The Professor walked in, and I was over the fact that he could walk now. I smiled at him and ran toward him and embraced him. I let go.

"Thank you." I said, and he smiled at me.

"You know where we are." He said, and I nodded and walked back to John.

"Thanks Professor." John said quietly and the Professor nodded. I picked up my suitcase and I nodded towards John.

"Bye, everyone." I said quietly, and waved as I phased John and I through the wall. We walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Way to go quietly." He said sarcastically, watching me closely. I smiled softly.

"Yeah." I said quietly. We reached the gate of the institute, and I looked back at the mansion for a minute. I turned to look at John, and saw he was doing to same thing.

"Ready?" he whispered, and I nodded. I phased us through the gate and we continued our walk to the bus station, which wasn't too far from the mansion.

"You sure you want to come with me?" John asked, and stopped walking.

"John if I wasn't sure, you would know. I want to go. It's why I'm here." I said, giving him a half-smile. He seemed reassured by this thought, and we turned toward the bus station.

"So this is it." John said quietly as we reached the florescent lights of the station.

"Yeah. It is." I said, looking at the directory map.

"Our bus is over here." John said, and pulled my hand toward the bus parked in the middle. I felt a strong feeling of sadness, but I ignored it and let John help me, holding my bulky suitcase, board the bus. I gave the bus driver our tickets, and he glared at us, probably knowing we were mutants. I ignored him and averted the eyes of the passengers as John and I made our way to the back. We sat down and I grasped John's hand as the bus started to move. I closed my eyes, and felt John's hold on my hand tighten. I felt tears roll down my face, but I wasn't crying, there was just tears.

"It's alright Kitty, we'll come back and visit soon, and maybe we can even teach when we're older." John said in a quiet voice, and I smiled, proud of the kind, sweet man he had become ever since he joined the X-Men again, even if he was the same old John sometimes. But that's what I liked so much about him.

"I know John, I know." I said, and opened my eyes to smile at him. He smiled back and I leaned against him, falling asleep and dreaming of our new life together.


End file.
